With many liquid or granular products, it is convenient or desirable to provide single-use quantities in disposable containers. These containers take many shapes and forms, depending upon the nature and use of the product contained. Such containers can be tailored for easy opening, or to facilitate dispensing of the product once opened, or both.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,894, to Hsiao, discloses a breakable packet in which medicinal pellets are vacuum sealed. The packet has a synthetic plastic cover and a flexible backing sheet. A frangible zone extends across a neck of the packet, at which the packet is bent and broken to allow the pellets to be dispensed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,521,805, to Ward, discloses a dispensing packet, formed from a sheet of synthetic resin material, which includes recessed pockets interconnected by a recessed neck. A sheet of covering material is sealed to a peripheral flange of the resin material to seal the packet. The packet is folded between the pockets, causing the packet to rupture at the neck to allow the contents to be dispensed.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,705,579, to Mason, discloses a packet having compartments formed by the sealing of one flexible sheet to another. In this case, separate compartments are provided to hold, for example, salt and pepper, and each is provided with a spout extending from a corner of the packet. The packets are opened by tearing across a corner, through one of the spouts, at a scored or perforated tear-line.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,575,325, to Leeds, et al., shows a similar dispensing package having a molded blister sealed at its peripheral flange. Within the periphery of the blister, near a corner, an inward protuberance is formed by edges. The edges combine with the walls of the blister to define a pair of channels near the corner. The blister is scored or otherwise weakened near the protuberance. The blister is folded at the score to break open the package, so the contents can be poured or shaken out through the channels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,732, to Sullivan, et al., shows a pouch, formed of molecularly-orientable polymeric film such as polypropylene, polyethylene, or polystyrene, sealed along a peripheral edge. The pouch defines a containment cavity and a discharge spout extending from the cavity. A seam is disposed between the cavity and the spout. The film at the discharge end of the spout is molecularly-oriented in a specific direction. This, combined with a slit and a tear-initiating notch on either side of the spout, permits the pouch to be torn open across the spout in a controlled manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,360, to Collie, discloses a container closed by heat sealing. A score line or notch allows the container to be cut or torn open. The container is constructed of a foamed polymer. This allows the container to be readily opened without deforming the material around the cut or tear.
Some products include reactive components that are best kept separate prior to use. Therefore, disposable containers are sometimes provided with separate compartments, often with parallel spouts through which the various components can be simultaneously dispensed upon opening.
Published International Application WO 96/12660, to Josephsen, et al., discloses a package for at least two mutually reactive photographic chemicals. An outer membrane delimits a chamber, which is divided into compartments by at least one partition wall. The partition wall extends into a neck, which is designed to be opened by a single cut along a cutting line, opening both compartments.
With certain corrosive products, it is important that the container be resistant to the corrosive action of the product itself. In addition, with hazardous products, it is important that the container be resistant to such external corrosive influences as air, light or moisture, as well.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,824, to Itaya, et al., discloses a press-through package composed of a three-layer composite sheet, provided with a pocket, in which a layer of high density polyethylene (HDPE) is sandwiched between outer layers of a propylene polymer. A metal foil is bonded to the sheet to cover the pocket and enclose a tablet or capsule. The HDPE layer, provided for strength, transparency, moisture resistance, and rigidity, is 120-800 micrometers thick. Each of the outer layers, provided to aid in adhesion with the foil, contributes to the strength, makes up for the low vacuum and pressure formability and stretchability of the HDPE, while not affecting the transparency, and is 15-80 micrometers thick. The inner layer is at least 2.5 times as thick as each outer layer. To open the package, the tablet or capsule is pressed through the foil.
While many approaches have been taken to provide disposable containers for various products, some of which, as described above, satisfy a few of the needs in the art, but none are wholly satisfactory in all of these respects. Further, in contrast to many of the packages described above, which are designed to facilitate opening, it is also often paramount that the container contents not be easily accessible to children, for example, without being unduly burdensome for an adult to open.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a disposable dispenser package for containing and dispensing materials such as hazardous, corrosive or caustic powders. There is also a need for such a container in which the material composition of the package contributes to the tear- and puncture-resistant nature thereof, as well as resisting degradation due to internal and external corrosive influences. There is a further need for a package with a preformed channel for dispensing the contained material from the package. There also is a need for a package with multiple compartments which separates hazardous, corrosive or caustic material, but allows simultaneous dispensing of these materials.